PTSD Timeline: Centuries of Trauma

A brief history of the observation and study of PTSD

CLINICAL RESEARCH
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Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

One Man’s Poison
New genetic sequencing technologies have opened the door to animal venom therapies.

The Tender Years
Adversity in early childhood too often equals poor health later. Now researchers are looking for ways to change the equation.
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MENTAL ILLNESS
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In the Shadow of the Pandemic, a Mental Health Crisis
The dangers of COVID-19 go beyond the physical risks, especially for those with psychiatric health needs.

Broken Hearted
An unusual syndrome connects grief and stress to cardiac damage. Discoveries about its physiology reveal a complex connection to the brain.

When Healers Get Hurt
For nurses and doctors, abuse from patients is just part of the job. But as attacks mount, hospitals are trying to defuse the tension.
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PSYCHOLOGY
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Skies of Gray
New research looks into young people’s anxiety around environmental collapse.

Prescription: A Happy Heart
Positive psychology may be the next logical tool for cardiology, according to psychiatrist Jeff C. Huffman.

How Do You Measure Mindfulness?
A calmer brain can lead to a healthier body. Researchers are beginning to pinpoint just where those benefits are coming from.
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Published On July 21, 2010

5th c. B.C.

THE GRANGER COLLECTION

Herodotus tells of a Spartan commander who excused soldiers who, though of proven bravery, were “out of heart and unwilling to encounter the danger.” Herodotus also mentions a soldier—called “The Trembler”—who hanged himself.

1666

JOHN HAYLS/BRIDGEMAN ART COLLECTION

After surviving the Great Fire of London, Samuel Pepys describes experiencing, and noticing in fellow Londoners, what appear to be classic PTSD symptoms: sleeplessness and anxiety.

1860s

THE GRANGER COLLECTION

Thousands of Union Civil War combat veterans are hospitalized with “nostalgia,” a despondent, depressed state resulting from severe homesickness intensified by the stresses of military life.

1866

THE GRANGER COLLECTION

The New York Times reports a new disorder, “railway spine.” A passenger “gets out with…his body unbruised, and his mind unconscious of any disorder beyond a general weakness and confusion, which he sets down vaguely to a shock to the system, while his friends charitably attribute it to excessive fright.”

1914–1918

OTIS ARCHIVES/FLICKR

More than 300 British soldiers, many suffering from “shell shock,” are executed for cowardice. In 2006 the United Kingdom grants the soldiers posthumous pardons.

1943

SUPERSTOCK

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, visiting wounded soldiers in a hospital in Sicily, asks one to describe his injuries. “It’s my nerves,” the soldier replies. Patton slaps him across the face and calls him a coward.

1979

ISTOCK

Eight years after it was first proposed (and after being killed several times), Sen. Alan Cranston’s bill creating outreach centers for Vietnam veterans suffering from psychological problems related to their service is passed by Congress.

1980

The American Psychiatric Association, in the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, recognizes PTSD as a disorder, replacing disorders related to specific traumas.

1989

Congress establishes the National Center for PTSD within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Spread among seven “academic centers of excellence” around the country, the unit is charged with promoting research and better education about PTSD.

2008

VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A landmark study by the RAND Corporation estimates that 300,000 of the 1.64 million U.S. service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan may suffer from PTSD or depression—and that far too few are getting effective treatment.

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